Valentine’s Day Special Part 3

 

Hyoyeon was all smiles when she opened the door to welcome Hyun into her apartment. She was all smiles because she had found the perfect alternative and was confident of presenting her special gift to him for this special day.

 

“How was work, Hyunnie?” she asked as he entered her apartment.

 

“It was good! Number crunching went very well today and I got extra work done as well. Things are looking good.”

 

“That sounds wonderful!” Hyoyeon smiled brightly. She loved it when Hyun’s work went well. She knew how hard he worked and he derived much pleasure from a job well done. Much like how she was like with hers.

 

“Give me your jacket, Hyunnie, I’ll hang it up for you.”

 

“Er…I think I’ll leave it on, Hyoyeonie.”

 

“But why? You’re going to feel really warm in here if you don’t take it off.”

 

“It’s alright. Really. I’ll keep it on.”

 

Hyoyeon looked at him strangely but decided not to force him to take his jacket off.

 

“Well, I’ve got a surprise for you, Hyunnie. Do you want to find out what it is?”

 

“A surprise? For me? What is it?” Hyun grinned immediately and followed her into the kitchen. “Wow!” he exclaimed when he saw the spread. “That’s a lot of work, Hyoyeonie!”

 

Hyoyeon simply grinned. His reaction to her efforts made it all worthwhile.

 

“Well, it’s only five dishes. To celebrate our five months together.”

 

Hyun grinned and pointed at one of the dishes and asked, “What’s this?”

 

“Cherry tomato pops!”

 

“Wow! They look nice!”

 

“Of course they are. I made them! Look, I’ve put mozzarella cheese in the cherry tomatoes. And I have some ranch dressing for dipping too.”

 

Hyun took one and popped it into his mouth. “Mmm! Delicious!”

 

Hyoyeon laughed. “If you like that one, you’re going to love the rest. Try this!”

 

Hyun looked at it curiously. “It looks similar.”

 

“These are herb cherry tomato pops.”

 

“Herbs? I like herbs. They’re healthy.”

 

“Try it.”

 

Hyun popped the herb cherry tomato pop into his mouth and chewed.

 

“How is it?”

 

The twinkle of his smiling eyes told her what she needed to know and she smiled in return.

 

“Okay, next! Sauteed green beans and cherry tomatoes.”

 

“Cherry tomatoes again?”

 

“Uh huh.”

 

“Okay…I’ll try it.”

 

“Is it good?”

 

Hyun nodded with his mouth full.

 

“Next dish! Tomato salad!”

 

“Hyoyeonie, is the last dish tomato too?”

 

“Yes, I made chocolate cherry tomatoes for you!”

 

“Hyoyeonie…why aren’t there any gogumas today? I miss my sweet potatoes. I didn’t eat any today because I was looking forward to eating the ones you cook.”

 

“Hyun…I ran out of ideas. And I wanted to give you a surprise for today. So I went and researched on healthy alternatives and came up with tomatoes. It’s close enough, isn’t it?”

 

Hyun shook his head sadly. “It’s not close at all. Sweet potatoes are sweet potatoes. Tomatoes are tomatoes. They’re not the same.”

 

“But both are very healthy.”

 

Hyun shook his head again. “But they’re still not the same.”

 

“Even their names are alike! Potato! Tomato! Only two letters apart!”

 

“It’s sweet potato, not potato.”

 

“Well, tomatoes are sweet too! You can call them sweet tomato if you want. See? It’s close!”

 

“It’s not!”

 

“It is!”

 

“I want sweet potatoes, Hyoyeonie…please?”

 

Hyoyeon sighed. Hyun was one obstinate creature. But perhaps, he didn’t need the surprise. Neither did he need the variety. Yes. He was a one vegetable man. Which was good, wasn’t it? It’d mean that he was also a one woman man. Yeah. A one love man. That was a good thing.

 

“Okay. Fine. I can make the uncle’s sweet potatoes for you.”

 

“HURRAY! Three cheers for Hyoyeonie!”

 

~~~~~
 

Hyoyeon turned to Hyun after the sweet potatoes began steaming.

 

“Right, what are we going to do while they are steaming?”

 

Well, actually…I’ve got something planned for you today.”

 

Hyoyeon was pleasantly surprised to hear that.

 

“You do?”

 

Hyun nodded vigorously. “I read a book about it so I’m all prepared now.”

 

Hyoyeon felt a laugh arising but quickly stamped it down. It wouldn’t do to laugh at his genuine attempt to be romantic for her.

 

“Okay, I’m excited for it.”

 

“Please wait here.”

 

So Hyoyeon waited. Hyun reappeared in the kitchen with a single rose and that’s when her heart really started to thump. A rose! From Hyun? From studious, genius, obsessed-with-interest-rates, not-in-the-least-romantic Hyun? Wow. The earth must have shifted on its axis or some planets must have lost their alignment. Hyun with a rose?

 

“Hyoyeonie, I would like to give you this rose. It signifies my devotion to you alone.”

 

“T-Thank you…” Hyoyeon found herself stuttering a little. The man was making waves in her little thumping heart with his rose and sweet words.

 

“And I hope you like this coloured pen set.”

 

Hyun moved the arm that was behind his back and revealed a set of 48 coloured pens, several of which were glittery and shiny. She shrieked upon seeing them. Yes, she shrieked. At the top of her lungs. Out of pure joy. Over coloured pens.

 

“How did you know that I love this brand of coloured pens?” she asked with eyes shining with excitement.

 

Hyun grinned sheepishly and said, “I wasn’t sure if buying coloured pens for you would be a good idea even though I’ve seen you using them many times so I asked hyung to ask Sunny if it’s okay. She said that it was and also suggested that I get you shiny stickers as well.”

 

And as he said that, he pulled out a wad of stickers from his inner jacket pocket and presented them to her.

 

Alright. Now this was heaven. Coloured pens and shiny stickers. And a romantic rose! What else could a girl possibly ask for on Valentine’s Day?

 

Hyoyeon was one happy girl. Oh yes, she was. And because she was so happy, she kissed him right on the lips and gave him a big hug.

 

“Thank you, Hyunnie! I love the gifts!”

 

He looked troubled when she finally stopped hugging him.

 

“Hyunnie? What’s wrong?”

 

He cleared his throat and shifted his feet which Hyoyeon read as signs of uneasiness so she waited patiently for his answer.

 

“What’s wrong, Hyunnie?”

 

“Well, the book said to make you feel loved and give you flowers and presents that you will like. So I did my research on roses and found out that different numbers of roses meant different things. That was easy enough. Then I had hyung and Sunny’s help with the presents. But I’m wasn’t sure about the part about making you feel loved. That was the part that I couldn’t find a solution to. Until this morning. But I’m still not sure if it’s the right way.”

 

“Okay…” Hyoyeon replied slowly, “why don’t you try it and I’ll tell you if it works.”

 

“Really? You’ll tell me?”

 

Hyoyeon nodded with a smile. “Mmmhmm.”

 

“Okay. I’ll give it a shot.”

 

Hyoyeon gave him an encouraging smile as he took a piece of paper out from his inner jacket pocket again. Then it struck her. So this was why he refused to remove his jacket earlier! She couldn’t resist giggling which made him look more uncertain than before.

 

“I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something funny. Go on, Hyun. Do your thing.”

 

“Okay. Here goes nothing.”

 

Hyun took a deep breath and unfolded the piece of paper.

 

“Dear Hyoyeonie, the possibility of us meeting again after graduating from high school is one in a thousand. And the possibility of us both being single and available when we meet again is one in a hundred thousand. And the possibility of us falling for each other after you played so many pranks on me in high school is one in a billion. So based on the statistics, I would say that it has taken a near miracle for us to meet again, get over our past grievances and to fall in love. Hyoyeonie, what I’m trying to say is that I will love and cherish you as my girlfriend and I hope that in the estimated 23725 days that we have left, we will be able to stay together happily as a couple. I love you, Hyoyeonie.”

 

A smile had crept onto Hyoyeon’s face midway through his reading and by the time he finished, she was grinning. It was the cutest love letter she had ever heard in her life and that was the single most romantic evening she had ever experienced in her love life.

 

“Hyunnie…”

 

“Do you feel loved after hearing that?”

 

“Hyunnie…”

 

Hyun blinked and looked a little confused so Hyoyeon decided to give him a precise answer. By kissing him right on the lips.

 

“Was that your answer?”

 

Hyoyeon smiled.

 

“That means you like my little speech?”

 

“Mmmhmm. And I want you to give me that piece of paper.”

 

“You want this?”

 

Hyoyeon took the piece of paper from him and smiled sweetly as a lovely warm sensation cascaded down from head to toe. “I want to keep this in my diary.”

 

“Okay.” Hyun looked pleased.

 

~~~~~
 

The rest of the evening progressed well. Hyun had his steamed gogumas and Hyoyeon, the pleasure of watching him eat them. They were on her couch in front of the television that was showing a movie that they were watching. It was a romantic movie, befitting of a Valentine’s Day date.

 

It got to a certain point whereby the man and the woman got together and began to kiss. Oh. That certainly made them feel a little fired up. Yes. Hyoyeon was sneaking peeks at Hyun as the man in the movie devoured the lips of the woman he was with. And suddenly, their eyes met. Yikes. What was a girl to do when her man caught her sneaking peeks at him during a kissing scene?

 

“Do you…want to…do the same?” he asked while gesturing at the kissing scene.

 

Hyoyeon nodded shyly and he shifted himself to face her. Oh. The thrill of knowing that she was going to be kissed. Yikes. It made her nervous. She closed her eyes as he drew nearer to her and waited. She felt his hands cupping her face and then his lips on hers, pressing softly. Her lips parted instinctively and found their way between his so that they could lock lips. The sounds of their lips’ suction on each other thrilled her. So did the gradually increasing pressure that her lips sensed.

 

Her arms moved a little hesitantly towards him and found their way around his neck. Oh. It felt nice. His lips. His shoulders. She dug her fingers into his hair. Oh yes. This was good. Very good. She wanted more. It was time for more.

 

Her body tingled as his hands held her waist and pulled her towards him. She shifted accordingly and found herself straddling him on the couch. It was a good feeling to be this close to him. Oh, the thrills.

 

He kissed her more and more fervently and his hands had begun to explore her entire back. It was nice. It felt intimate. And this was the first time that he laid his hands on this much of her.

 

“Hyunnie…” she moaned.

 

“Mmm…” he moaned in reply.

 

And it was a rather long time before they finally parted, panting as they did.

 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Hyoyeonie.” He smiled and her hair gently.

 

Hyoyeon smiled warmly in return and snuggled up against him, resting her cheek on his chest.

 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Hyunnie,” she said as she intertwined his and her fingers.

 

~~~~~
 

Sunny looked up from her computer and stretched herself. She was finally done! Was Yoong done too?

 

She popped her head in to check on him.

 

“Are you ready to go?”

 

“Lock that door and get over here.”

 

She bit her lip and looked out at her co-workers. Most of them were gone, save for a few people who were about to leave so she slipped into his office and locked the door. She walked to him and sat on his lap.

 

“What will you have me do for you, Mr. Im?” she asked while batting her eyelids flirtatiously.

 

He growled. “Is this what you do to all your superiors?”

 

“I think so. They all seem to like it.”

 

His naughty grin matched hers and they kissed briefly.

 

“You’re too naughty for your own good, Sunny.”

 

“I’m naughty for you.”

 

“Yes, you are.” He grinned and nipped her earlobe playfully. “I’m just about done. Then we can go to the same old place for our favourite food.”

 

“Kyuhyun oppa will be happy to see us. We haven’t been there in a while.”

 

“Right. I’ll just need ten more minutes. I have just one more email to send and I’ll be done for the day.”

 

“Okay, I’ll be outside waiting.”

 

She planted a kiss on his lips before leaving him to do his work. She didn’t want to hold him up any further because she could hardly wait to show him the surprise she had prepared for him.

 

~~~~~

 

Talking about surprises, Yoong had one up his sleeves too. He had found his bear. Not just one. Two. He had found two bears. Two perfect bears. Made for each other. And his heart had thumped extra hard when he found them. Oh, he was reminded of a certain New Year’s resolution that he had once made. It was a particularly memorable resolution because his grandpa had given him a good scolding for being so flippant about it. So as he looked at the bears, he grinned. He could fulfil that resolution after all.

 

~~~~~